Klarinet Archive - Posting 000834.txt from 1996/08

From: "Dan Leeson: LEESON@-----.EDU>
Subj: Continuing comments of Starr Schaftel Wayne
Date: Sat, 31 Aug 1996 05:08:51 -0400

> From: MX%"starrs@-----.01
> Subj: Re: Hearing the difference

> Dan Leeson: LEESON@-----.edu wrote:
> >
> > Starr asks how I feel about a blind test. Given the proper controls
> > and an experimenter who knows what s/he is doing, I think they are fine.
> > But so far, unless I missed it, I have seen nothing on this subject
> > that even remotely suggested scientifically appropriate test to
> > confirm or deny any hypotheses. All I have seen (and commented on)
> > are "It sounds better to me" as if that were a useful or even correct
> > statement.
> >
> > Did I miss something about blind tests? Did I zig when I should have
> > zagged?
> >
> > ====================================
> > Dan Leeson, Los Altos, California
> > (leeson@-----.edu)
> > ====================================
> Dear Dan,
>
> I guess if you are suggesting that we need scientific studies to
> confirm what we all know we are hearing, then these studies may not,
> or do not exist. Strict science will not confirm why any two
> instruments sound different.
Science almost never confirms "why" something happens. It is only
helpful in establishing that some has happened. It measures
differences but is unable to state the origin of the difference.

I do not feel the need. Do you hear the
> difference between an R13 and a LeBlanc Concerto when played side by
> side in a blind test by the same player with the same setup? I am very
> curious to hear(no pun intended)your answer.

The question is too specific. I have not heard an R13 and a LeBlanc Concerto
played side by side under conditions of a blind test. My statement was
much more broad: that, except for the most unusual circumstances,
different clarinets produce fundamentally the same sound character
when played on by a single player; i.e., a person's sound character is
not influenced by the instrument. A person
s sound character is inluenced by other and personal things such as
body type, head cavity sizes and shape, etc.

>
> Respectfully,
>
> Starr Schaftel Wayne
====================================
Dan Leeson, Los Altos, California
(leeson@-----.edu)
====================================